Yet another mistake, any solutions please

[Broadback]

I've been revamping a bathroom, put 15mm piping (hot & cold) up the wall for a bar shower. I was certain :-(( that I had placed them correctly, but now I come to fit the shower the pipes are about 4-5mm too far apart. Foolishly (in retrospect) I plastered over the pipes and then tiled, thinking the more secure they were the better. I can get around the pipes to a certain extent through the hole on the tile around each pipe. If I carefully remove the plaster around, and as far down as I can reach would the be enough flexibility in the pipes to close them up? Would it be sensible to use a loop of rope and tighten it like a tourniquet with a rod to draw them together? I'd better add that they terminate with a right angle joint, and at the moment project from the wall about 5cm. TIA

[Shona Honeyman]

Your idea sounds like a sure-fire recipe for disaster, pulled joints etc.

What type of shower are you fitting, does it not make some allowance for mistakes such as your own. I installed an external bar type thermostat that allowed (if I recall correctly) about 12mm adjustment.

Better than forcing the pipes, as that tension will always want to release itself somehow (probably as a leak behind your tiles)

David

[BigWallop]

What type shower fitting are you installing? I'd have thought 4 or 5 mm would be within the tolerance of the fitting and the pipework.

[Broadback]

It is a Britan, I've actually presented the bar shower to the pipes and it will not fit, and there is no adjustment. The shower comes with off set connectors, but in order to fit these the pipe has to be an exact length from the fittings to the wall, as I could not ascertain how thick the tiles with adhesive would be I could not fit these, so bought, an alternative fitting which allows a variation from wall to shower, but not any variation between the pipes. It looks like I will have to take tiles off and move one of the pipes, then replace the tiles. Dumb! :-(

[Brian G]

As a matter of interest, I see that you have "plastered" these pipes into the wall - was this a cement/sand render with a plaster skim coat? If you have, did you protected the pipes (presuming that they are copper) by using some sort of "plastic" wrapping around them or are they plastic covered pipes? If not, the cement will "attack" the copper (fairly long term) and cause pin-holing of the pipes leading to leaks.

Brian G

[Broadback]

Snip

I used finishing plaster, as there was not much infilling needed.

[David M]

The shower I recently installed came with a couple of offset connectors. which were roughly like this ________ \ \_________

_______ \ \__________

This allows you to set the spacing of the shower correctly as long as the pipes in the wall are within 10-15mm of their ideal position, however it may be too late for this type of solution as you also need to ensure that the pipes are the roughly the correct distance from the wall as well as the correct separation.

Having said this I have no idea where to buy these connectors, or if you can use them, although if you need 5cm of pipe coming out the wall then you may be able to cut this and use this type of offset connector.

I think you r approach of pulling them together sounds a bit dodgy, you are more likely to turn the pipes rather than bring then together, which then gives you two problems to sort.

cheers

David

[Broadback]

SNIP

Yes I was supplied with those, but as I said you have to know the thickness of the wall when installing them. As I said it looks like tiles off. :-(((

[BigWallop]

How much of the pipe tails sticking out the wall do you need?

[Broadback]

As I am not at the house at the moment I cannot be precise. However the fitting onto the pipe that I have to install uses the standard 15mm olive and compression joint, so I would say the length that would be used for any compression joint.

[BigWallop]

And the shower fitting has "fixed" compression joints to connect to the pipe tails? And you checked that the fittings on the shower don't have any sort of adjustment on them?

I take it the shower fitting is some sort of thermostatic valve that fits between these pipes, and that the valve doesn't have elbow fittings that will allow you to pull them out, or push them in, to suit a small amount of difference in the width of the pipe tails. So, would it be possible to replace the fittings on the shower valve itself, instead of having to make the changes to the pipework?

[Broadback]

SNIP

The shower bar does not have compression joint but, not sure of the name, the same type that fit onto taps, flat with washer. Again the fitting is at the house, but I am 99% certain that there is not adjustment, however I will have a look after Christmas when I am next there.

Thanks everyone for your help, and a Merry Christmas and happy New Year to everyone.

[BigWallop]

Most appliance fittings, not all mind you, allow for some discrepancy in the width or height of the final fixing position. A 5 mm difference isn't that huge an error. Good luck with it, and don't despair.

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Very Prosperous New Year to You and Your Kin.

[David M]

Well you were supplied with them for a reason, the reason being they allow you to get the correct spacing between the pipes! You have two variables to deal with to get the pipes sitting correctly. One is how far apart they are and eth other how far they stick out from the wall.

The offset connectors allow you to take account of the separation and there is normally 5-10mm of adjustment on the brackets/plates hiding the pipes to take care of how far they stick out of the wall. If you are not roughly in the right ball park for both then as you say it's time to take the tiles off and put things right.

cheers

David

[John Rumm]

Probably not going to help you at this stage, but I fitted a mixer like you describe a few weeks back.

The cranked adaptors that came with mine were 1/2" male BSP on the pipe end, and 3/4" male BSP on the mixer end. This required fitting a 1/2" female BSP to the end of the pipe. The body of this female fitting being burried in the wall such that the face of the screw threaded part was flush with the surface of the tiles.

The solution I found that made it simplest, used a pair of straight female BSP connectors fitted to short stub pipes. I drilled large holes through the wall with a bit of clearance all round and attached these stubs to elbows on the pipes. The space round the fitting being made good with silicone sealant.

In your case if the pipes are burried in a wall (rather than passing through a thin stud partiton like my one) you would probbably be better off with a right angle female BSP fittting of the brass solder on type. That way you would only need to take of ennough tile to expose enough pipe to get a fitting like that in place. You may find if you do it neatly that the cone flanges on the mixer will cover the hole anyway.